(A) Rule 1. Quorum; order of business; agendas.
(1) Each meeting of Council shall convene at the time appointed for the meeting as provided by this chapter. In the absence of the Mayor, the Council members present shall elect one of their number, by majority vote, to chair the meeting. The City Clerk, or someone appointed to fill his or her place, shall thereupon immediately call the roll of members. If no quorum is present, Council shall not thereby stand adjourned, but the members present shall be competent to adjourn by a majority vote.
(2) A quorum for the transaction of business shall consist of a majority of all the Council members entitled by law to be elected. When a quorum is present, Council shall proceed to the business before it, which shall be conducted in the following order:
(a) Pledge of Allegiance and moment of silence;
(b) Open forum;
(c) Presentation of previous meeting’s minutes for approval;
(d) Bid openings-tabulations;
(e) Berwyn Development Corporation – Berwyn Township/Health District;
(f) Reports and communications from the Mayor;
(g) Reports and communications from City Clerk;
(h) Communications from (Zoning) Board of Appeals;
(i) Reports and communications from Council members, committees, other boards and commissions;
(j) Staff reports; and
(k) Consent agenda.
(3) During the open forum, the Chair, for not longer than 15 minutes, shall recognize and allow members of the public to express their opinions, to address Council or to petition the members orally in connection with subjects and matters not appearing on the meeting agenda. A speaker so recognized by the Chair shall give his or her name and address; be orderly and polite; not use profanity or scurrilous language; not use the privilege to make a personal attack upon Council or any of its members or other officers of the city; and otherwise conduct himself or herself in a decent and proper manner.
(4) All communications to Council at a regularly scheduled meeting shall be submitted in writing to the Clerk on or before 10:00 a.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the regular Tuesday night Council meeting. The Clerk shall then prepare a typewritten agenda of all communications to be presented for consideration and discussion at the following regularly scheduled Tuesday night Council meeting, and copies of all communications appearing on the agenda shall be attached thereto.
(5) The agenda shall be made available to all Council members not later than 12:00 p.m. on the Saturday immediately preceding the regularly scheduled Tuesday night Council meeting, and a copy of the agenda shall be posted for public examination and inspection in the Municipal Building.
(6) Emergency communications from the Mayor will be added to the agenda at any time as the Mayor deems necessary.
(B) Rule 2. Questions concerning priority of business. All questions relating to the priority of business shall be decided by the Chair, without debate, subject to appeal.
(C) Rule 3. Duties and privileges of Chair.
(1) The Chair shall preserve order and decorum and may speak on points of order in preference to other members, and shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to Council, on which appeal no member shall speak more than once without the unanimous consent of Council.
(2) If the Chair refuses to allow the Council members to exercise their right to appeal a decision of the Chair, the Council members may consider and pass upon the matter in spite of the failure of the Chair to grant them an appeal.
(D) Rule 4. Members leaving room while Council in session. While the Chair is putting the question, no member shall walk across or out of the Council Chambers.
(E) Rule 5. Recognition of members. Before a member speaks, makes a motion or seconds the same, he or she shall address himself or herself to the Chair, but shall not proceed with his or her remarks until recognized and named by the Chair.
(F) Rule 6. Chair to decide order of speakers. When two or more members address the Chair to be recognized, the Chair shall name the member who is first to speak.
(G) Rule 7. Visitors at meetings. When Council is in session, no one shall be admitted within the bar of the Council Chambers, except members of Council, elected city officials, heads of departments, former City Council members and representatives of the press. However, a visitor may address Council on any matter upon being recognized by the Chair, or upon motion duly made and seconded by members of Council and approved by a majority vote. A visitor so addressing Council shall be subject to all rules of Council and shall confine his or her remarks to the matter under discussion, making them as brief and concise as possible. No visitor shall solicit a Council member to vote for or against any proposition.
(H) Rule 8. Communication by members. When a member wishes to present a communication, petition, order, resolution or other original matter, he or she shall send it to the desk of the Clerk or the person that Council may from time to time appoint for that purpose, who shall read the matter when reached in its proper order.
(I) Rule 9. Maintaining order at meetings. In the case of a disturbance or disorderly conduct, the Chair may require the Council Chambers to be cleared, if necessary.
(J) Rule 10. Limitation on debate. No member, without leave of Council, shall speak more than once upon the same subject, until every member who wishes to speak has spoken. No member shall speak longer than ten minutes at any one time, except by consent of Council.
(K) Rule 11. Appeal by member when called to order. A member, when called to order by the Chair, shall thereupon take his or her seat unless permitted by the Chair to explain. If there is no appeal, the decision of the Chair shall be conclusive, but if the member appeals from the decision of the Chair, the appeal shall be decided by Council.
(L) Rule 12. Conduct of members during debate. While a member is speaking, no member shall hold any private discourse or pass between the speaker and the Chair.
(M) Rule 13. Requirement to vote unless excused. Every member present when a question is stated from the Chair shall vote thereon by casting a yea or nay, unless excused by Council, or unless he or she is personally interested in the question, in which case he or she shall not vote.
(N) Rule 14. Sergeant-at-arms. The Mayor shall appoint a sergeant-at-arms and assistants as may be necessary to preserve order at a Council meeting.
(O) Rule 15. Failure to attend meetings. If a member of Council fails to attend four consecutive regular meetings, Council may, by resolution, remove the member from his or her office as Council member and declare a vacancy in the office, to be filled as required by law.
(P) Rule 16. Special orders. Any matter before Council may be set down as a special order of business for a certain time, if two-thirds of the Council members present vote in the affirmative.
(Q) Rule 17. Motions not debatable unless seconded. No motion shall be put or debated in Council or in a committee, unless it is seconded.
(R) Rule 18. Reports to Council members prior to meeting. All reports from city departments, staff, boards and commissions, presented to Council for the first time shall be in writing and submitted to each Council member in the same fashion as required by Rule 1 herein.
(S) Rule 19. Withdrawal of motions. After a motion or resolution is stated by the Chair, it shall be deemed to be in possession of Council, but it may be withdrawn at any time before decision thereon or amendment thereof by consent of Council.
(T) Rule 20. Taking and entering of votes. If a member requires it, the yeas and nays upon a question shall be taken and entered on the journal, but the yeas and nays shall not be taken unless called for previous to any vote on the question.
(U) Rule 21. Announcement and change of votes. The result of all votes by yeas and nays shall not be announced by the Clerk, and the ruling on the measure shall be announced by the Chair. No vote shall be changed after the announcement of the decision by the Chair.
(V) Rule 22. Precedence of motions.
(1) When a question is under debate, the only motions in order shall be:
(a) To adjourn to a day certain;
(b) To adjourn;
(c) To take a recess;
(d) To lay on the table;
(e) The previous questions;
(f) To refer;
(g) To amend;
(h) To substitute;
(i) To postpone to a time certain; or
(j) To postpone indefinitely.
(2) The motions shall take precedence over each other in the order stated, and the motions lettered divisions (V)(1)(b), (d) and (e) shall be decided without debate.
(W) Rule 23. Adjournment. A motion to adjourn Council will always be in order except:
(1) When a member is in possession of the floor;
(2) While the yeas and nays are being called;
(3) When the members are voting;
(4) When adjournment was the last preceding motion; or
(5) When it has been decided that the previous question shall be taken.
(X) Rule 24. Motions to adjourn. A motion simply to adjourn shall not be subject to amendment or debate, but a motion to adjourn to a time certain shall be so subject.
(Y) Rule 25. To adjourn over one or more regular meetings. Council may at any time adjourn over one or more regular meetings by a vote of a majority of all the Council members authorized by law to be elected.
(Z) Rule 26. Standing committees. The standing committees shall be as set forth in § 210.14.
(AA) Rule 27. Duties of standing committees. The duties and jurisdiction of the respective standing committees shall be as set forth in § 210.15.
(BB) Rule 28. Action at meeting when subject introduced. All ordinances, petitions, resolutions, orders and communications to Council may be referred to appropriate committees by majority vote of the Council or by order of the Chair, without objecting to them to be acted upon on the report of the committee having the same in charge. Matters not referred to committee shall be acted upon presentation unless deferred for action at the subsequent meeting. Matters may be deferred by order of the Chair or at the request of a Council member if there is no objection. If an objection is raised, the deferred matter shall be brought to a vote, and a two-thirds vote of the Council shall sustain the objection.
(CC) Rule 29. Application of Robert’s Rules of Order. The rules of parliamentary practice comprised in the latest published edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern Council in all cases to which rules are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with this section.
(DD) Rule 30. Temporary suspension of rules. The rules of Council set forth in this section may be temporarily suspended by a vote of two-thirds of all the Council members entitled by law to be elected and shall not be repealed, altered or amended, unless by concurrence of two-thirds of all the Council members entitled by law to be elected.
(Ord. 89-39, passed 9-12-1989; Ord. 96-42, passed 10-22-1996; Ord. 06-24, passed 5-23-2006)